The Bus People [Hardcover]

Rachel Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1992 | Age Level: 10 and up

The lives of the passengers on Bertram's "fruit-cake bus" are shaped by the experiences and problems each has faced because of different disabilities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Every day, Bertram, a bus driver, makes his "fruit-cake" run, delivering seven severely handicapped children to and from their school. The backgrounds and conflicts of each of his passengers is touchingly related in this unique collection of stories focusing on family relationships. Vignettes dealing with each character in turn reveal how some of the students have been scarred by abusive or overprotective guardians, while others, the recipients of unconditional love and acceptance, have gained high self-esteem. Perhaps most poignant are the stories of Fleur, a foster child who has retreated into a world of science, and brain-injured Thoby, whose response to music is discovered by his devoted sister. Anderson's ability to intuit and communicate the thoughts of her characters is nothing less than remarkable. Rarely sentimentalizing or even labeling their disabilities, she provides a perceptive study of their attitudes and capacities. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-- In Anderson's book, readers live for a while in the minds and bodies of eight special children. Bertram drives the route that the other school bus drivers call "the fruit-cake" run. His passengers are mentally and, in some cases, physically handicapped as well. But that's okay with Bertram; "Wouldn't swap my fruit-cakes for the world," he laughs. Readers meet Rebecca, 15, who has Down's Syndrome, as she learns a hard lesson about the realities of life for girls "with 47 chromosomes instead of 46." They enter the mind of Mickey, a teenaged boy whose deformed body frustrates his adolescent sexuality and dreams of freedom. And there is the story of Fleur as she might tell it if she would speak. But Fleur does not like to talk, or walk, or run, or think. She is frozen in her fears of a past when she was locked in a small dark closet. The vignettes are powerful, moving, and beautifully constructed. The stories they tell are a balance of kindness and cruelty, understanding and intolerance, all of which echo the real world. Although the portraits are brief, the individuals are well developed, realistic, and memorable. With its rich prose and unforgettable characters, The Bus People is more than a good book about disability . It is--quite simply--a good book. --Constance A. Mellon, Department of Library & Information Studies, East Carolina Univ . , Greenville,
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 102 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holth & Co (J) (November 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080502297X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805022971
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to read of you're in for laughs, June 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bus People (Hardcover)

This book is a short collection of humorous and poignant short stories about a school bus of unusual students. One word.. FUNNY

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Inspirational, September 22, 2004

By 

T. Curran (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bus People (Paperback)

This book gives amazing perpective. The stories of the children that ride this "special bus" are heart-warming. This book made me smile and laugh one minute and cry the next. It is truly a well written book!